Charting a course for growth as a church pursuing Jesus
Spiritual transformation is not the result of compelling the will to do what is right. Instead it is a process of partnership with God, where by use of a variety of means we engage in spiritual formation. It is not a passive undertaking. Dallas Willard points out that the conquest of the promise land by Israel is a good analogy. At the beginning God caused the walls of Jericho to fall down. But this happened only one time. The rest of the conquest involved intense hand to hand conquest. Such is the case with our growth in godliness. We are surrounded by grace, and God’s promise of more of His divine energies to assist us. But we must actively engage these things.
However, in order to stay the course we must have a good understanding of the process of spiritual formation. How do I change? How do I break certain besetting patterns of sin? How do I overcome relational difficulties, conflicts and misunderstandings? How do I learn to become a more peaceful, gentle and kind person? How do I have good order in my finances? How do I keep from wasting time, and manage my life in ways that allow me to do all the things God wants me to do? Dallas Willard states (and I paraphrase) ‘much of what Christians do to effect spiritual formation makes no sense at all.’ And I must say in my years of experience in the church this is resoundingly true. I think most Christians would agree that becoming more like Jesus is a good thing, but if you ask them how they plan to do that many would have either a befuddled look on their face or make reference to ‘praying more or reading the bible more.’ There has to be more to it than that. Paul says that the knowing Christ is the most important undertaking of our lives (Phil. 3), and this knowledge is intended to make us holy, and yet is seems so many Christians have no clear idea how that transaction actually takes place.
I wonder Lamb of God how many of us out there are frustrated with chronic sins, personality defects, and other bad habits that just don’t seem to change? Can this really be all there is to living as a Christian? Ben’s question on Sunday, take from Paul’s letter to the Galatians is one way to sum this whole matter up - ‘what has happen to all your joy?’ Isn’t the Christian life meant to be lived with zeal, and vibrancy? The answer to that is yes - Jesus said that the kind of life he was offering was intended to become a well-spring of life flowing up from with in us. That is figurative language which speaks of refreshment, and abundance. Yet, so many of us do not in fact live this way.
This is, in part a strong reason why we have chosen to study Dallas Willard’s ‘The Renovation of the Heart.’ I have spent 25 years seeking an understanding of how God changes us, and how it is we cooperate in this process - and other than the Bible, I have found no book that rivals this work by Dallas Willard. It is challenging reading, and it takes time to digest it. However, I can’t say enough about how important I think this book is - for each of us personally, for any of us with children, and for any who have the desire to be effective in helping others to grow in Christ. I know I may sound a bit like a broken record, but I believe that we as a body need to take it up a notch in terms of our commitment to learn and grow in the things of the Kingdom. I was over joyed by the response to the first book “The Faith” and I believe that this will bear fruit in the lives of everyone who made the time to work their way through the book.
After we finish with the ‘Renovation of the Heart‘ we will turn our attention to a classic book on Biblical hermeneutics ‘How to read the bible for all its worth‘ by Dr. Gordon Fee and Dr. Douglas Stuart. This is an important text on understanding the bible as literature. This volume guides readers in understanding the literary dimensions of the Bible by incorporating techniques for interpreting Scripture, while it also maintains faithfulness to literary genres. This is critically important to how we understand, and make the best use of the Bible.
I am a strong believer that each of us need to know how to go to the Word of God and seek and find truth from its pages for ourselves. The airwaves and Christian bookstores are filled with all manner of ‘teaching’ and there is no shortage of strange and even heretical ways of understanding the Bible.
Following the book by Fee and Stuart we will turn our attention to marriage and parenting. Two really wonderful books on family life, one by Gary Thomas, called ‘Sacred Marriage‘ and one by Ted Tripp called ‘Shepherding a Child’s Heart.’
‘Sacred Marriage’ begins with a provocative subtitle - What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy? The editorial review reads - Your marriage is more than a sacred covenant with another person. It is a spiritual discipline designed to help you know God better, trust him more fully, and love him more deeply. Scores of books have been written that offer guidance for building the marriage of your dreams. But what if God’s primary intent for your marriage isn’t to make you happy . . . but holy? And what if your relationship isn’t as much about you and your spouse as it is about you and God? Everything about your marriage–everything–is filled with prophetic potential, with the capacity for discovering and revealing Christ’s character. The respect you accord your partner; the forgiveness you humbly seek and graciously extend; the ecstasy, awe, and sheer fun of lovemaking; the history you and your spouse build with one another–in these and other facets of your marriage, Sacred Marriage uncovers the mystery of God’s overarching purpose. This book may very well alter profoundly the contours of your marriage. It will most certainly change you. Because whether it is delightful or difficult, your marriage can become a doorway to a closer walk with God, and to a spiritual integrity that, like salt, seasons the world around you with the savor of Christ. Oh, yea one more thing - Patti Polyniak says this is her favorite book on marriage.
We are a church with lots of young families and young children. What could be more timely or important than to give series attention to a classic on raising children? Shepherding a Child’s Heart is a classic on Biblical principals of raising children.
One reviewer writes - This book is a marvelous resource for child training. Tripp is to be commended for not succumbing to the modern psychobabble that permeates most child training manuals today. For instance, he has the audacity to defend the use of that much maligned and abused implement, the rod. Why does he defend such an archaic and unscientific practice, you ask? Because of his commitment to the Bible! Instead of looking to the wisdom of man, Tripp attempts to build his house upon the sure Word. He explicitly states that the Bible is sufficient for parenting:
[The Bible] presents an accurate and comprehensive picture of children, parents, family life, values, training, nurturing, discipline—all you need to be equipped for the task of parenting (pg. 13).
This book can be divided into two main categories. First, Tripp deals with the goals of child rearing: What is the purpose of training our children? What should we expect them to look like as adults? Second, Tripp deals with methods: How do I discipline? How do I communicate with my children? What should repentance look like?
Tripp believes that child training cannot be reduced to a mere formula. Because we live in a fast food culture, an impatient society, a world that expects quick and enormous dividends on small investments, we tend to want a paint-by-number approach to child training. “Give me the three step formula or the twelve point program, and I’ll be on my way.” But raising children demands much more. It takes time, wisdom, patience, and sweat. Training the next generation is not for the weak of heart.
Tripp also warns against the idea of training the “well-behaved child.” If we do everything “right” and our kids function well in society—they are stable, well educated and highly paid—and yet we do not impart to them a love for Jesus Christ, we have failed abominably. He writes:
Teaching your children to live for the glory of God must be your over-arching objective. You must teach your children that for them, as for all mankind, life is found in knowing and serving the true and living God. The only worthy goal for life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (pp. 76-77).
Child training must be Christ centred. We admonish our children because we want them to serve Jesus Christ as Lord. We punish our children because we want them to have a picture of the horrific consequences of sin. We want our children to repent and flee to the Saviour. We nurture our children in the faith because outside of Christ they are damned and have no hope at all.
Growth in the things of the Kingdom of Jesus require full on engagement with God’s truth and dependence upon the work of the Holy Spirit to transform us. Anything less produces weak change, or no change at all. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God. I believe that it is God’s will for us to live in the joyful abundance of the Kingdom of God. The great apostle Peter writes: (3)His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (4)Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (5) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; (7) and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. (8)For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.